Millwall midfielder: New players have raised standard

RYAN Tunnicliffe believes the new players who arrived at the club in January means everyone is pushing hard to try to win a spot in the team.

Lions boss Neil Harris believes he has assembled his most competitive squad, coming up on the three-year anniversary of his first game in charge of the first team in March 2015.

Tunnicliffe was one of the new signings last summer, and has been battling Shaun Williams for a place in the side, with George Saville having started every league game this season.

Former Fulham midfielder Tunnicliffe was impressive against Cardiff last Friday week, but was on the bench as Harris decided to start Williams against Birmingham at the weekend.

Millwall face Sheffield Wednesday at home on Tuesday night

“The quality goes up when new players come in,” Tunnicliffe said. “They are trying hard and training hard to get into the team, and everyone else wants to keep their spot. Competition for places is never a bad thing. It has raised the standard every day in training.

“All the games that we’ve played against sides in the top half and especially in the top six, we’ve more than held our own. We’ve dominated large spells of games at The Den. It’s a hard place to come to, especially when the crowd are on it.

“I think we’ve proven all year we can more than hold our own, we don’t fear any side.”